Woman sues international dating agency after string of bad matches

US woman Darlene Daggett had high hopes of finding her ideal partner when she took out a “CEO level” membership with an exclusive dating service.

But the retired corporate spent US$150,000 (NZ$206,200) only to be sorely disappointed.

Kelleher International, whose CEO is a chief executive and a former actress who appeared inBaywatch, promised ideal matches from around the globe.

Daggett, a 62-year-old divorced mother of four, turned to the service, according to court documents, because regular online dating sites “did not provide the degree of screening and privacy she was looking for.”

Instead, she was introduced to a procession of incompatible suitors, she told the court last week.

One candidate, an Australian entrepreneur, whisked her away to Panama and Costa Rica. This would have been fine had the man not embarked on a trip around the world with his former partner the day after returning from a trip with Daggett.

Daggett was introduced to an executive with a Fortune 500 company, described as the “Serial Lothario” in court papers, who ended their relationship without explanation, having spent Christmas and Thanksgiving with her.

Another man said he was waiting for his terminally ill wife to die before he could commit and another, hailing from Virginia, was, she claimed, prone to lying. Daggett later pursued a stalking complaint against him.

Daggett, who reached a settlement with the agency, said she had hoped to find someone to spend her retirement with.

Amber Kelleher-Andrews, the agency’s chief executive, defended her company, which she said had been responsible for thousands of marriages. The company worked to end courtships reasonably, she said. “It doesn’t always work out.”